THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all the 80,000 readers of Shutter Magazine who voted me one of the Top 10 Most Influential in the Industry for 2014. Wow, I’m still pinching myself and can’t believe I’m mentioned with these AMAZING photographers! I’ve looked up to and have been inspired by many of these photographers over the years and to be grouped with them is quite humbling.

Starstruck…

My copy of Hot Shoe Diaries signed by Joe McNally

I remember 5 years ago reading Joe McNally’s book Hot Shoe Diaries and feeling so empowered and inspired- I actually went to his one day lecture in LA with about 2,000 other photographers and like a little kid I went up after the show, book in hand and had him sign it and thanked him for being an inspiration. Just to be mentioned at his level is quite unbelievable- a hero turns into your peer, how does that happen?

creativeLIVE party with Arlene Evans at WPPI 2014 also with Tauran Woo and Zabrina Deng

I just wanted to give a shout out to Arlene Evans and Sue Bryce for being instrumental in my career. This world is too big to go it alone and to get ahead you need a few key people to believe in you and stick their neck out for you. A big thank you to these two for introducing me to the creativeLIVE family. Arlene has been such a big part of my career and have seen me and so many other photographers grow up in the industry. She’s cared for many of us, what a huge blessing she has been!

Never stop dreaming big, working extremely hard and tackling small goals one at a time and eventually over time there is nothing that can stop one from achieving tremendous success. It may not happen overnight and it may take a decade or so of focused effort, risk, great financial sacrifice and believing in oneself but truly the sky is the limit.

Monica Escatel -Congratulations. You deserve it for your talent and hard work. My only complain is that you should sharring 1st place with Sue Bryce. To me the three BEST are Sue Bryce, Scott Rober and of course YERVANT.